Wednesday, June 24, 2015

24 June 2015

Birthdays
Nicole Munoz b. 1994 (Defiance, Once Upon a Time, Scarecrow, Chupacabra vs. the Alamo, Tooth Fairy, The Last Mimzy, Supernatural, Fantastic Four, Jeremiah, Stargate Atlantis)
Kaitlin Cullum b. 1986 (Galaxy Quest)
Lotte Verbeek b. 1982 (Outlander [TV])
Sarai Givaty b. 1982 (The Legend of Hercules)
Joanna Kulig b. 1982 (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters)
Minka Kelly b. 1980 (Almost Human)
Liane Balaban b. 1980 (Supernatural, Alphas)
Mindy Kaling b. 1979 (This is the End, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
Carla Gallo b. 1975 (Carnivale)
Charles Venn b. 1973 (The Dark Knight)
Jensen Daggett b. 1969 (Asteroid, Project: ALF, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Iain Glen b. 1961 (Game of Thrones, Kick-Ass 2, Doctor Who, Resident Evil, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
Dan Gilroy b. 1959 (writer, Stan Lee’s Annihilator, Real Steel, Freejack)
Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister b. 1958 (The Lazarus Papers, Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Monster Ark, The Dark Knight, Saul of the Mole Men, Vegas Vampires, Dracula 3000, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Fifth Element, The Meteor Man, Universal Soldier)
Joe Penny b. 1956 (Reign of the Gargoyles, Threshold, The Twilight Zone [1986], Tucker’s Witch)
Michael Reid MacKay b. 1953 (X-Men 2, Batman & Robin, Sleepwalkers, The Monster Squad)
Mercedes Lackey b. 1950 (author, Valdemar, The Ship Who Searched)
Nancy Allen b. 1950 (My Apocalypse, RoboCop, Poltergeist III, The Philadelphia Experiment, Strange Invaders, Carrie)
Peter Weller b. 1947 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Fringe, Star Trek: Enterprise, Odyssey 5, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, Screamers, RoboCop. Leviathan, Buckaroo Banzai)
George Sanford Brown b. 1943 (Team Knight Rider, Colossus: The Forbin Project)
Carol Byron b. 1937 (Dimension 5, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone)
Paul L. Smith b. 1936 died 25 April 2012 (Gor, Haunted Honeymoon, Red Sonja, Dune, Wonder Woman)
Robert Downey Sr. b. 1935 (From Other Worlds, Twilight Zone [1985])
Jack Carter b. 1923 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Time Trax, Lois & Clark, They Came From Outer Space, Arena, Amazing Stories, Alligator, Beyond Westworld, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, Tales of Tomorrow)
Al Molinaro b. 1919 (It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!, Bewitched)
Sir Fred Hoyle b. 1915 died 20 August 2001 (scientist/author, A for Andromeda, The Molecule Men)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. There are three actors who have had the Picture Slot on this list, 'Tiny' Lister and Peter Weller on previous June 24th and Iain Glen one year when I had his birthday on the wrong date. As usual, I try not to repeat myself and go with something iconic, so this year it's Nancy Allen from Robo Cop, having a chat with the pre-cyborg version of Peter Weller. (Aside: I always wonder if people in a movie together find out they share a birthday.) My second choice would have been the late Paul L. Smith as the Beast Rabban in Dune.

2. Spot the Canadians! Our Canucks today are Liane Balaban and Nicole Munoz, both have showed up on Supernatural, which is not a proof of Canadian citizenship but a strong hint instead.

3. No nepotism here. The aforementioned Ms. Balaban is no relation to Bob Balaban. Robert Downey Sr. is nowhere near as famous as his son, but I don't see him begging the kid for small roles in movies where his son is the star, so I'm not going to make any nepotism claim there.

4. Wait... they're alive? We have two guys in their nineties on the list today, Jack Carter and Al Molinaro. I had no idea they were still around and good on them.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen released, 2009
Spaceballs released, 1987

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The call to awake in the morning will, in cities and towns, be made by wireless telegraphy, which will also be used for the purpose of regulating the domestic clocks, so that if desired any suitable form of clock alarm may be used with the most perfect confidence… The clock controlled by wireless telegraphy will doubtless undergo a rapid development from the time when it is first introduced.

Reality: Wireless telegraphy is the name Sutherland uses for radio. The radio alarm clock was not exactly what he was proposing, but I'll still give him points. As for clocks that can be remotely regulated, this was a clever idea that really took off in the 21st Century. The clocks inside computers used to run slow almost always, but now the Internet can send a pulse to make them the most reliable time keeping device in the house.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular schedule for a prediction of immortality that really sounds like it would suck.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

3 comments:

  1. So long as the radio alarm clock doesn't always play "I Got You, Babe"...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always call him Dr. Weller, now. He earned his Ph.D., which is, frankly, still a most impressive feat.

    ReplyDelete

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